Last week my tidbit was not an attempt to justify Christianity’s record of persecution of Jews but to better understand how it could happen. The persecution of Jews, i.e.antisemitism--is unequivocally sin—period—no excuse, no exception to the rule. Antisemitism by Christians can never be justified! Any attempt to justify sin---can never possess forgiveness, deliverance or reconciliation. On the contrary, sin must first be acknowledged and then followed by repentance. My objective in this series is to unveil the sin of antisemitism…with a special focus on the church--past and present---for the express purpose of reconciliation! Why? God’s word has the answer:
“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.”                  -Ps102:13
 
The Word of God declares there is a time for everything under the sun (Eccl3:1). Because God uses signs to reach humans (Gen1:14; Heb2:4), I believe God is using the massacre of October 7, 2023, as a sign to unveil the condition of the heart of contemporary man toward the Jew; which tragically but simultaneously reveals where we presently stand on God’s timeline. October 7th, perfectly unveiled the hidden evil in the heart of millions of people across the globe regarding the Jew---which I repeat, by default is a mirror in the heart of people regarding God! Remember, the principle God gave to Balaam in Numbers 22:12- “And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.” In other words, if one curses what God has blessed, the curse will return to him! God declared to Abraham regarding Israel, “I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you!” (Gen12:3).
  Moving forward. In part 1 of this series, I promised to use the book “Why the Jews?” by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin for this series. Yet, as I thought about it, I have decided to add things from the book, “The Anguish of the Jews” by Edward Flannery, too.
  Let’s begin! The Jews/Israel—by far--have been the most persecuted people group in the history of the world---and it’s not even close! There is simply no way to argue against this fact without being either dishonest or irrational. Although Christians have been persecuted since the time Jesus ascended into heaven 2,000 years ago, we are a distant second to the Jews in being hated by the world!
   Jew-hatred is so universal that a name was invented to describe it: ‘antisemitism’! Regarding the term antisemitism, Prager and Telushkin write, “The term antisemitism was coined in 1879 by Wilheim Marr, an anti-Jewish spokesman in Germany, as a euphemistic substitute for Judenhass, Jew-hatred. The term is a misnomer, of course, since it has nothing to do with Semites” (Why the Jew? pg199). But Why? The word ‘Semite’ originates from the first son of Noah: Shem. From Shem ultimately came Abraham, who was the father of both Ishmael and Issac. From Isaac came Jacob and Esau. And from Jacob came 12 sons: 1.Reuben, 2.Simeon, 3.Levi, 4.Judah(by Leah); 5.Dan, 6.Naphtali (by Bilhah); 7.Gad, 8.Asher (by Zilpah); 9.Issachar, 10.Zebulun (and Dinah) (by Leah); 11.Joseph, 12.Benjamin (by Rachel). From the 12 sons of Jacob descended Israel; or…the Jews!
  On the other hand, from Abraham through Ishmael descended the Arabs. Therefore, in reality, the Arabs and the Jews are both Semites or Semitic. However, from its inception, the term ‘antisemitism’ refers only to the Jews---not the Arabs! Once again, why? Because of Wilheim Marr, a Jew-hater, who first coined the term! Therefore, the definition of antisemitism is Judenhass, which means Jew-hatred! I repeat, at its foundation—antisemitism is restricted to the definition of hatred for the Jew! Tragically, Jew-hatred has absolutely nothing to do with any actions of the Jew---good or bad---but is completely dependent on the identity of the Jew! For this reason…antisemitism, i.e.Jew-hatred is unique!!
 
 
Quotebit
“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”                  -Thomas Sowell, Economist, Historian

    Starting out as a young Christian and naive in my theology, I believed that a Christian could not be deceived because of the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn14:17;Jn20:22; Acts2:4). I derived my theology from studying such incredibly rich passages like, John 16:13-“Howbeit when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth”. Or, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom8:14). After pondering these and many other such passages, I immaturely concluded, “How can Christians be deceived if the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding them!?!?” However, in God’s grace, He had mercy on me. As I continued to study scripture and Christian history, learning more and more about Satan, man’s sin nature, and good and evil, my theological naivete quickly abated.
  This foundation brings me to the topic of this tidbit. Tragically, after researching the historic role “Christians” played in antisemitism over my past 45 years in the ministry, makes THIS tidbit series the most DIFFICULT I have ever written…period! In my opinion, for Christians to persecute Jews may be Christianity’s greatest sin! Just think about it for a moment--how can one who claims to be a Christian disrespect, dishonor or persecute Jews when the One whom Christians claim as their Lord & Savior i.e.Jesus--is Jewish?
  Therefore, the hypocrisy of ‘Christian antisemitism’ demonstrates at least two things:
           1.the power of Satan to deceive (2Cor4:4;2Cor2:11)
          2.the evil capability of the human heart(Jer17:9), i.e. the sin nature!
 
  And what’s more, for Christians, the previous two facts don’t even include the following facts:
1.the New Testament cannot exist ‘without’ the Old Testament i.e. the Torah! The New  Testament is completely depended upon the Old Testament---which is the reason the NT so often cites the OT!
2.the Bible—Old and New Testaments…were written by Jews!!!
3.Jesus did not preach the New Testament—He preached the Torah…BECAUSE He was a Jewish rabbi!!
 
  NOW…because there is no safe place to begin on the tragic topic of ‘Christian antisemitism’, I would like to start with a little ‘Christian history’ from the Reverend John Wise(1652-1725), who offers a short explanation on how Christians have been deceived in the past. I would like to defer to Providential Historian David Barton who explains Reverend Wise’s views best:
“Reverend Wise divided Christianity up into three epochs:
Period I includes the three centuries of Christianity immediately following the life of Christ. According to Wise, this was “the most refined and purest time, both as to faith and manners, that the Christian church has been honored with.” Period I is the “Period of Purity,” and Jesus’ followers throughout that time largely did just what He had taught them to do.
Period II spans the next twelve centuries, and according to Wise, it was a period that “openly proclaimed itself to the scandal of the Christian religion.” The State took control of the Church, with the State decreeing Christianity to be the official religion of the State and all other religions illegal. This was a time of “the secularization of the Church and the depravation of Christianity” a time when the State seized and corrupted the Church and its doctrines, wrongly asserting “that one of the chief duties of an imperial ruler was to place his sword at the service of the Church and orthodoxy.” Christianity became coercive through brutal civil laws attempting to enforce theological orthodoxy.
This age was characterized by autocratic leaders in both State and Church, with monarchies and theocracies (usually oppressive ones) as the primary forms of governance. The Founders frequently described Period II as a time of “kingcraft” and “priestcraft” – a time when kings and priests joined together against the people, using selfish ambition to gain personal wealth and power. Period II is called the “Period of Apostasy” or “Period of Corruption.”
Period III, according to Wise, is that which “began a glorious reformation.” Wise explains: “Many famous persons, memorable in ecclesiastical history, being moved by the Spirit of God and according to Holy Writ, led the way in the face of all danger . . . for the good of Christendom.” Early seeds of this change began with the efforts of numerous Christian leaders, including John Wycliffe (1320-1384), called the “Morning Star of the Reformation.” Nearly two dozen other Christian leaders also worked to spread Bible teachings across their respective countries, including Englishmen such as Thomas Cranmer, William Tyndale, John Rogers, and Miles Coverdale; Czechs such as John Huss and Jerome of Prague; Germans Martin Luther, Thomas Münzer, Andreas Carlstadt, and Kaspar von Schwenkfeld; Swiss Ulrich Zwingli; Frenchmen William Farel and John Calvin; Scotsmen John Knox and George Wishart; Dutchmen Jacobus Arminius, Desiderius Erasmus, and Menno Simons; and others.
This third era, called the “Period of Reformation,” emphasized a return to the Bible as the guidebook for all aspects of life and living.”
  American Founding Fathers and leaders (including John Adams) made a clear distinction between America’s Period III Christianity and Europe’s Period II Christianity. For example, Noah Webster emphatically declared: the ecclesiastical establishments of Europe that serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion, but abuses and corruptions of it.
  Other Founding Fathers made similar distinctions, including John Jay (the original Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court and a co-author of the Federalist Papers), who declared that the Period III Christianity practiced in America was “wise and virtuous,” and John Quincy Adams described it as “civilized”– terms certainly not associated with Period II Christianity.”  Here
  
  As I mentioned earlier, ‘Christian antisemitism’ is an oxymoron! However, because Satan deceives through his devices(2Cor2:11), as well as through the human sin nature(Jer17:9), it is therefore possible to understand how even Christians can be deceived---even though the Holy Spirit indwells us.
  Allow me to conclude with two critical points. First, it is possible for people to declare, “I am a Christian!”, yet not be a Christian…at all! Jesus said, at the judgment there will be those who call Him “Lord, Lord”, and His response will be “I never knew you! Depart from me!” (Mat7:22-23). This is a terrifying thought for everyone who is literally born-again(Jn3:3; 2Cor5:17) because salvation comes ONLY through the acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus …with our mouths (Rom10:9,10)!!!
 And second, 1 John 3:15 declares, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” The Christian’s greatest earthly hope is to be with Jesus in heaven forever. However, if a Christian murders’ another human---this verse says ‘that’ Christian will go to hell!
  My point is that every person who declares, “I am a Christian!” does not mean he/she is a Christian!!
 
  Moving forward, for this series on ‘Christian antisemitism’, I would like to use the incredible work ‘Why the Jews?’ by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin. Although I will primarily focus on ‘Christian antisemitism’, I will do my best not to leave too much out on other forms of antisemitism.